Cats Don't Dance
Cats Don't Dance is a 1997 American animated musical comedy film distributed by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and notable as the only fully animated feature produced by Turner Feature Animation. This studio was merged during the post-production of Cats Don't Dance into Warner Bros. Animation after the merger of Time Warner with Turner Broadcasting System in 1996. Turner Feature Animation had also produced the animated portions of Turner's The Pagemaster (1994). The film was the directorial debut of former Disney animator Mark Dinal and stars the voices of Scott Bakula, Jasmine Guy, Matthew Herried, Ashley Peldon, John Rhys-Davies, Kathy Najimy, Don Knotts, Hal Holbrook, Betty Lou Gerson (in her final film role), René Auberjonois, George Kennedy and Dinal. Its musical numbers were written by Randy Newman and includes Gene Kelly's contributions as choreographer, after his death in 1996. The film was Kelly's final film project which is dedicated to him. Plot In 1939, Danny, an optimistic cat, dreams of Hollywood stardom, so he travels from Kokomo, Indiana to Hollywood in hopes of starting a career there. He is selected by Farley Wink to feature in a film called Little Ark Angel that is in production alongside a cat named Sawyer. Upon meeting Tillie, Cranston, Frances and T.W., he is dismayed on learning how minor his role is and tries to weasel his way into more time in the limelight. Danny winds up angering Darla Dimple, a popular, extremely spoiled child actress and star of the film, so she assigns her Valet Max to intimidate Danny into no longer trying to enlarge his part. Danny learns from the studio's mascot Woolie the Mammoth that human actors are normally given more important roles than animals; a fact that none of them are very happy with but know they must accept. He longs for the spotlight and tries to make a plan that will encourage humans to provide animal actors with better parts - such as by assembling a massive cluster of animals and putting on a musical performance for the humans. Later, he is given advice by Darla Dimple (while masking her true villainous nature with a sweet one as she always does) through song on how to interest and satisfy audiences. Danny takes this information to heart and groups the animals for another performance in hopes of attracting the humans' attention. However, Darla, fearing that the animals are jeopardizing her spotlight, has Max help her flood Mammoth Studios while the head of Mammoth Studios, L.B. Mammoth, and the film's director Flanagan is giving an interview, getting the animals blamed and fired by L.B. Mammoth and Flanagan. The animals are depressed at being barred from acting in Mammoth Studios (especially Danny who was convinced by Darla that she was trying to help the animals). Woolie just tells Danny to go home since their plans are now over. As Danny plans to leave for home, Cranston, Frances and T.W. blame him for ruining their plans while Tillie suggests to Sawyer to find Danny. After a comment from the bus driver and seeing Pudge wander the streets, Danny comes up with a plan for attracting the humans' attention yet again. He invites Sawyer, her friends and Woolie to the premiere of Lil' Ark Angel. After the screening and a battle with Max that sends him flying away on a Darla Dimple balloon, Danny calls the audience's attention. Upon Sawyer, Woolie and Tillie bringing Cranston, Frances and T.W. backstage to help Danny, the eight animals put on a musical performance that entertains and impresses its viewers. Meanwhile, Darla attempts to sabotage the show by tampering with the set and special effects equipment, but her attempts instead cause her to inadvertently enhance the performance as well as injure herself. Maddened with frustration, she tries to ruin the show by pulling a big switch, but this sets off an enormous fireworks finale, making the animals' performance a complete success. Furious at the animals, Darla berates Danny for trying to attract the focus away from her and then unintentionally confesses to flooding Mammoth Studios and framing the animals. Darla's screaming is picked up and amplified by a nearby microphone, revealing the truth about the accident to the audience including L.B. Mammoth and Flanagan. Pudge pulls a lever, sending Darla down a trap door. Max was last seen flying by France in the runaway balloon. At last, the animals' demands for larger roles are met and their dreams are fulfilled after so long. There is a montage of film poster parodies which put the main animals in roles. It is revealed afterwards that Darla was fired from show business and is now working as a janitor for her punishment. She puts up a The End poster on a wall and it falls down and wraps around her. Cast * Scott Bakula as Danny * Jasmine Guy as Sawyer (sung by Natalie Cole) * Matthew Herried as Peabo Pudge Pudgemyer * Ashley Peldon as Darla Dimple (sung by Lindsay Ridgeway) * Kathy Najimy as Tillie Hippo * John Rhys-Davies as Woolie the Mammoth * Betty Lou Gerson as Frances Albacore * Hal Holbrook as Cranston Goat * Don Knotts as T.W. Turtle (sung by Rick Logan) * George Kennedy as L.B. Mammoth * René Auberjonois as Flanagan * Mark Dindal as Max * Frank Welker as Farley Wink * David Johansen as Bus Driver * Dee Bradley Baker as Kong * Tony Pope as Alligator * Peter Renaday as the Narrator * Additional voices: Vanessa Theme Ament, Catherine Battistone, Bob Bergen - Man, Shelby Daniel, Debi Derryberry, Bill Farmer - Reporter, Barbara Goodson, Patty Lund, Mona Marshall, Gary Matanky, Patricia Parris, Doug Stone - Moose, David W. Thompson, Torri Whitehead & Michelle Lynskey Songs * Danny's Arrival Song (performed by Scott Bakula) * Little Boat On The Sea (performed by Lindsay Ridgeway and Scott Bakula) * Animal Jam Session (performed by Scott Bakula) * Big and Loud (performed by Lindsay Ridgeway) * Tell Me Lies (performed by Natalie Cole) * Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (performed by Natalie Cole, Scott Bakula and Kathy Najimy) * Our Time Has Come (performed by James Ingram and Carnie Wilson) * I Do Believe (performed by Will Downing) * Tonight I'm Going Out with You (performed by Bill Elliot and His Orchestra) * Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag (performed by Kathy Najimy) * Pizzicato from 'Sylvia' * La Cumparsita International releases For information about international dubs and releases, Cats Don't Dance/International. Category:1997 films Category:1990s American animated films Category:American musical films Category:Films produced by Bill Bloom Category:Films produced by Timothy Campbell Category:Films produced by Paul Gertz Category:Films produced by David Kirschner Category:Films directed by Mark Dindal Category:Film scores by Mark Mancina Category:Warner Bros. films Category:Warner Bros. animated films Category:Half-Disney Feature Animation Category:Non-Disney animated films Category:DVD Category:VHS